Infant&#39;s undershirt and the like



Feb. 21, 1950 c. H. CLARENDON mum's UNDERSHIRT AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 25, 1948 ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 21, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE INFANTS UNDERSHIBT AND THE LIKE Charles H. Clarendon, Jackson Heights, N. Y.- Application August 25, 1948, Serial No. 46,063

This invention relates to garments, and has for its primary object the equipping of upper garments with improved means whereby lower garments may be easily and rapidly pinned thereto without unduly decreasing either the life of the portions in which the pins are fastened or the life of the garment as a whole; thereby materially increasing the useful life of upper garment, and greatly reducing the occasions for mending such garments in the pinning area. Other objects, in part, are obvious, and will, in part, appear hereinafter.

In upper garments, and especially in infants garments, to which lower garments are pinned, there is a tendency for the areas on which the pins are fastened to wear out with more rapidity than normally, and much faster than the remainder of the garment. This is especially true of babies undershirts or bands to which diapers are pinned, and to various uppergarments of children and adults to which relatively heavy lower garments are repeatedly pinned. The problem is only partly solved by reinforcing the portions where the pinning occurs by use of multiple thicknesses of the garment fabric, or by the provision of tabs or inserts of thick heavy material; since, while the life of the garment is prolonged, the difficulty of pinning is greatly increased. It is accordingly unusual to find childrens undershirts so formed that the pinreceiving portion outwears the body portion.

Proposals have been made that tabs for diaper pinning be attached to the lower portion or bottom edge of garments. Such tabs limit the area in which a diaper may be pinned, and do not provide for the varying body-lengths of infants. Proposals have also been made that a pair of openings, e. g. metal-rimmed openings, be provided in a tab to which the lower garment is to be pinned, but these tend to make the pinning operation even more difficult because of the accuracy required in getting the pin into the openings. They also tend to cause lateral or torsional pull unless the pin is very accurately placed in the lower garment, something which is almost impossible to achieve when pinning diapers on an active baby.

With the foregoing and other considerations in view, the present invention contemplates the provision in an upper garment, at the points where a lower garment is to be pinned thereto, of inserts which replace rather than reinforce the body fabric and which are formed of openwork material which is stronger and more reslstant than the body material. The provision ing, or other suitable 3 Claims. (01. 2-112) of inserts formed" of crossing strands may be effectuated by knitting, netting, crocheting, weavprocedure; and by the provision of crossing strands which are substantially as far apart as they are wide, there is provided a large and a scattered unoccupied area to which pinning is a simple and easy procedure. Ample strength and durability is provided by the strands, while the spaces between them enable a pin to be inserted with extreme ease from 'any angle or into any part of the insert.

In various of its more specific aspects, the invention contemplates the provision of inserts .formed of multiple strands all, or at least a major part, of the threadsof which are more resistant to breakage than the threads of the body portion ofthe garment; and/ or the use of heavier threads or heavier strands. The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessing the features. properties, and the relation of elements which will be exemplified in the article hereinafter de-' scribed and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and? objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front view of a garment exemplifying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view looking from one side of the front of the garment in place on an infant;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view looking from the other side of the front of the garment on an infant, and showing a diaper pinned thereto; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail view of sections of the body and insert portions of the garment.

The form of garment exemplified in the drawings comprise front and rear body portions l0 formed to provide arm openings II and neck openings 12 having the usual edge seams as at l3 and M. In the present instance connecting portions 15 are provided at the base of the arm openings.

Pursuant to the invention, the lower part of the side of the garment is composed of net-like material H the strands of which have a high degree of strength, but which, because of its open-work construction, receives pins easily and with a minimum of tearing and cutting action.

In the present instance, open-work portions l1,

t iple-thread strands 25;

which are about two-and-one-half inches Wide and three-and-one-half inches high, extend vertically approximately two-thirds of the distance from the bottom of the garment to the lower edge of the armhole, and are joined to the portions 10 and I5 by seams l9 and 20', 7

As indicated in Figs. 3 and 4, the garment can be worn with ease and comfort; and, as indicated in Fig. 4,, a diaper 2,! may be easily and effectively secured tof'thempen-jwforl: portions by pins, one "of which i's'enbwn at 2 2. The diaper is here shown pinned to the outside of the garment, but may just as efiectively be pinned to the inside of the garment if preferred;

In the present instance, the body ortions are formed of thread, e. g. combed cott" arn oftne English or hank sirability of this invention.

- l In the par'ticular lformof garment exemplified, the portions I l a're crocheted; as vvitha No. 7 steel =oroche't hook or the '-'e1ui'va1etit, starting with a chain -of twenty, and continuing with one double crochet stitch ineachchain until an insert of the 5 desired length 'is made. Thus'-'o'r by knitting, .n'etting, weavinggetcr there may be formed Inul; Not only should I the m ultiple thread crocheted strands" be stronger than the threadsdf the body portionj' but also,

preferably and as exemplified, the threads themselves ;should be stronger; For example, the yarn used-to form the "strandsnray be a'twis'ted 6"-co'rd cords of 'vvhich are of'the -Engfish or hank even before cro-cheting, eight or nine times as strong as the yarns of the-body portion. The strands themselves are of such strength that the inserts H greatly surpass the body portions in strength, while providing even ea ier pinning action because of the openings" 2-6 between the strands. As will be seen,- th'e'se openings are prefierably of a d iaimeter not-less than the width No. 25 .kni17ted'fihto loops, as in a rib-stitch 23, but can be of any other con-v struction Without eiTect on the usefulness or de- 4 of the strands, and are of such number and so widely scattered, that, wherever a pin may enter, it will slide easily thru one part of the insert and out thru another part, both such parts, however,

5 being determined by the general direction of the pin movement rather than by any accurate guiding by the parent or other user.

Sincecertain changes may be made in the above. article and different embodiments of the ihvntion'fcpuld be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted .as illus'tra'tive and not in a limiting sense.

15, vI claim:

" 1. An uppe'ng'ar'ment comprising a cloth body portion having at the lower sides thereof inserts formed of substantially non-elastic network, the spacing between the strands of the network be- 20 ing greater than the spacing of the threads ofthe eIothwhere d body per-tron is formed, and

" h*tl;ienetwork' isdormed havn'g'th greater than that ofthe he clot-h, whereby an 'openwork re- A trees-rem the bodym'l'oth-is provided A garment set forth in claim "1 wherein thb opeiiings' in t e net-work avedfame'ters sub- "'stantiailly a'fs' extensive-estriennial of the strands.

. CHARLES "CLARENDON.

aie FERnNoEs CITED r newing ijererihces are "or also: this tal-lent:

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